A Friend's Care
by lunaryu
Summary: In which Kuroko is in denial, Kagami is as dense as ever and Aomine is convinced that his ex-partner is infatuated with his new light. Implication Kagami/Kuroko.


**A Friend's Care**

**Fandom:** Kuroko no Basket

**Rating:** T/Pg-13 (for language)

**Genre:** Humor (bordering into romance)

**Pairing:** Kagami/Kuroko, Aomine, Momoi (?)

**Summary:** _In which Kuroko is in denial, Kagami is as dense as ever and Aomine is convinced that his ex-partner is infatuated with his new light._

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**Disclaimer: Fujimaki Tadatoshi owns Kuroko no Basket**

**Warning: **_excessive humor bordering into oOC-ness (I wish it's not too much), foul language (a little bit), shounen ai (only hints), possible grammar and spelling mistakes (sorry, it's unbeta-ed), etc…_

**A/N: **This is Mai-chan's fault! After reading her fic, I want to make one too since the amount of plot bunnies are starting to disturb me! XDD This is one of them… Well, I have another one in mind, but I think it's appropriate to start from this one. Anyway, please take a 'bite' at this piece and tell me what you think after you're done! *love*

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**A Friend's Care**

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It was, actually, purely coincidence.

Aomine Daiki was in the middle of supply hunting (basketball related, of course) in Shibuya when his hand touched another person's hand, while he was about to take a closer look at one of the wristbands the sport store had to offer.

Aomine blinked once and looked up from the wristband to the owner of the hand, which was considerably paler than his tanned one. He didn't expect to see the sky blue eyes of his ex-partner from his middle school days, though.

"Tetsu…?"

Kuroko Tetsuya met Aomine's gaze with his usual expressionless face. "Aomine-kun…" he greeted slowly, still with the same expression and the even tone.

"What a coincidence. You're shopping for basketball supply too?" the dark blue haired teen asked, smiling slightly. He had been slowly warming up again to the shorter boy after he and his team were defeated in Seirin versus Touou last match in Winter Cup. Slowly, but surely, Aomine believed he could regain the 'close-friendship' he had once shared with the fair skinned teen.

"Yes. Unfortunately, my shoes died on me yesterday, so I decided to look for another pair in this store," Kuroko nodded, while slowly resuming his activity to take a closer look at the wristband he had touched earlier, since Aomine had pulled back his.

Aomine couldn't help chuckling. "Even though you look like that, your words are still amusing as ever," he said, grinning now.

"I see," Kuroko didn't seem to pay too much attention to him afterward, so Aomine decided to observe his ex-partner for awhile.

That was when Aomine noticed something. "Wait. You said you're looking for shoes… then why are you fiddling with the wristbands?" he couldn't help asking now.

"Ah, this one is not for me," Kuroko said, taking another wristband with plain red color now after putting the black one down.

"Huh? Then, for whom?" Aomine asked again, getting slightly curious. After all, even after three years knowing Kuroko in middle school, he had never seen Kuroko buying something for someone else, except for birthday presents.

"Kagami-kun," Kuroko answered straightly without any pause as he put the red one down back to the pile in front of them and took another one in blue color.

Aomine cringed slightly hearing the wild red-haired man's name, Kagami Taiga, the one that successfully entered the 'zone' just like himself in their last match and ended up winning over him. As much as Aomine respected the guy for actually making him get passionate again in playing basket, for being his rival so his life wasn't as boring as before, his heart and pride still hurt a little over that loss.

Moreover, Kagami was Tetsu's new light at this moment. Could this get even better? Tetsu was the one who promised Aomine that he would make the tall tan skinned boy enjoy playing basketball again and he carried his promise to the fullest… together with that 'Kagami-kun'.

…

In Aomine's perspective, Kuroko seemed to regard that new partner of his very highly. He trusted Kagami with all of his heart, even willing to 'learn' new things for him (Kuroko asked Aomine to teach him how to shoot for God's sake!) and he had a slight suspicion that… maybe, just maybe, that Kuroko might like Kagami more than just as a basketball 'partner'.

"Birthday present?" Aomine asked then, just trying to prove his theory.

There was a slight pause in Kuroko's movement, and he took three seconds longer to answer that. "No."

Aomine blinked. "Then… for what occasion?" he asked again, getting more curious by this second.

"There is no occasion. I just saw his atrocious old pair of wristbands and thought that he might want a new one," Kuroko replied again, still tonelessly.

It was hard for Aomine to read Kuroko's expression when he hardly showed one in the first place, despite being close friends for those three years ago, but it was even harder to read Kuroko's intention. Honestly, Aomine still couldn't do that even until now.

However, it was the fact that Kuroko might have given his attention to Kagami slightly more than to his other friends. Maybe he was just being a good friend, but even with Aomine, Kuroko had never done something like that before. And they were best friends once.

"Heeh, you're being such a caring friend, Tetsu. Since when have you paid so much attention to your partner?" Aomine just wanted to tease a little. But he didn't expect such strong reaction to be thrown at his face.

"Is it that strange to care about your friend?" Kuroko asked back, still with even stare and tone, but he had turned to face Aomine now and there was a hint of 'demand' in the way he looked at Aomine with those big clear blue eyes of his.

Aomine twitched a little. Now he was convinced. Kuroko was indeed smitten with Kagami.

If Kuroko wasn't, he wouldn't ask like that. Aomine knew him enough to understand that one thing.

"No need to get defensive. I was just asking," Aomine said, a bead of sweat prickling out his temple.

"I am certainly not being defensive. It was a normal question," Kuroko argued. Well, there was no arguing tone, but he was arguing Aomine and the darker blue haired boy knew that.

"Fine, okay… you were just asking," Aomine backed down. He didn't want to have a fight with Kuroko while he was trying to patch up their friendship. Though, he couldn't help feeling slightly jealous that Kuroko actually liked this Kagami more than he did Aomine.

Kuroko's gaze lingered at Aomine for a moment before he sighed and went back to pick another wristband. The shocking-blue haired boy didn't seem to be aware himself, but Aomine noticed how focused Kuroko looked when he was choosing the wristband.

Kuroko's gaze lit slightly as he seemed to find what he was looking for and he picked up the wristband up. A red one, with blue and white stripes, and there were yellow star patterns between the stripes.

Aomine widened his eyes slightly when he saw a tiny smile on Kuroko's mouth. That was more than a hard proof that Kuroko did think so much about Kagami if choosing a 'non-occasional' present for the wild red haired buffoon already made Kuroko look so ridiculously happy like that.

"You seem… enjoying this so much…" Aomine wasn't the type to keep his mouth shut when he found something shocking like that. After all, his suspicion didn't seem to be baseless. He had proof now.

"What?" Kuroko looked up, expression back to his normal one.

"No… you seem incredulously happy when you got something that might suit that Kagami," Aomine said, more beads of sweat prickling out his cheek.

…

…

There was a longer silence this time as Kuroko gave Aomine an unreadable stare. "What are you talking about, Aomine-kun? It is normal to pick something that will suit the person to whom you will give the present." He then proceeded to reply after a suffocating moment, for Aomine at least.

Aomine's thought ran a mile per minute at how to react to the comment. After all, there was slight pink hue on Kuroko's cheeks despite his expressionless stare.

_He's in denial! He's totally in DENIAL!_—Aomine actually almost dropped his jaw after seeing that.

Well, being a _good_ friend Aomine was, he was trying to talk to Kuroko into admitting how infatuated he was with Kagami. "You know, Tetsu, you…" But it seemed fate was on his bad side at that moment because something suddenly interrupted him.

"Tetsu-kuuuuuun!"

A flash of pink strode so fast toward the pair of blues, before eager arms of Momoi Satsuki were immediately wrapped around the shortest of the three.

"Aaaah! I miss you sooo much! How have you been?" the long-pink haired girl asked excitedly, suffocating the poor frail smaller shocking-blue haired boy with her big boobs in the process.

"Satsuki!" Aomine shouted in surprise. He slapped his own forehead for actually forgetting that Momoi was with him today because she insisted to come along.

Momoi ignored him, though, and Kuroko wasn't helping by asking "Momoi-san… please release me," ever so politely, not seeming to be surprised in the slightest for being suddenly hugged in public like that by the girl that had crush on him and actually had one-sidedly claimed herself as his girlfriend.

Aomine wondered what Kuroko was made of for actually being abnormally calm getting attacked by his pretty childhood friend. All the guys would have drooled seeing that sexy body of hers.

"Kyaaah! Tetsu-kun is as sweet as ever!" Momoi said while snuggling Kuroko happily, not seeming to be fazed by the monotone reaction she got from Kuroko.

Aomine was getting annoyed that he was practically forgotten at that moment. He huffed before he pulled the girl to let Kuroko go. "Yes, that's enough. Jeez, you… can you read a situation for a bit? I was going to say something cool before you interrupted!"

"Boo! Dai-chan is being mean! Stingy!" Momoi pouted at Aomine, looking about to sulk.

Kuroko sighed deeply as he was finally free from Momoi's loving-clutch. Aomine smirked slightly knowing that Kuroko was relieved. Even though he was still expressionless, his gesture was clear enough for him to read.

"Hey, Tetsu, about just now…"

"Oi, Kuroko!"

Again, Aomine was interrupted before he could say his opinion to his ex-partner. He was annoyed and was about to yell at the offending guy when he turned and was instantly face to face with Kagami Taiga himself.

"Huh, Aomine?" Kagami blinked at the dark-blue haired teen.

"Kagami…? Why are you here?" Aomine widened his eyes. He honestly didn't expect to see the subject of Kuroko's infatuation there as well after all.

"I should be the one asking that. Why the hell are you guys here?" Kagami raised his eyebrows, looking at Aomine and then at Momoi before narrowing his eyes. "Don't tell me you're stalking Kuro—OW!"

But before Kagami could go further, Kuroko actually jabbed his ribs.

"What the—! What the hell was that for?" Kagami yelled at the shorter boy in shock while nursing his painful side.

"Aomine-kun and Momoi-san are here for shopping. It's coincidence," Kuroko said flatly.

"You didn't have to jab me that hard! Jeez… What's with you?" Kagami was still fuming and protesting.

"Wait… you guys are here together?" Aomine asked, getting curious again.

"Yeah. Kuroko asked me out to buy shoes because his old ones died on him yesterday," Kagami answered huffily.

…

…

"Tetsu-kun… asked you… out?" Momoi murmured slowly, her eyes widening each time a word coming out of her mouth.

_Crap!_—Aomine knew he had to do the damage control here. He didn't expect that Kagami was being so dense!

"Why did he ask—!"

Aomine immediately covered Momoi's mouth before she spouted out crazy line _'Why did Tetsu-kun ask you out while he never did me!_' or '_Why did Tetsu-kun ask you rather than me!_' or something in those lines.

"Kagami-kun, do you like this one?"

Aomine almost snapped his neck as he turned to face Kuroko too fast while the shorter boy, seeming not to care about the situation at all, asked Kagami about the present that he was about to give the red haired _tiger_.

"What? Oh!" Kagami's eyes brightened as he saw the wristband in Kuroko's hand. "That's cool! You want to buy it as well?" he asked then.

"Yeah, and I am giving it to you as a thank you for accompanying me today," Kuroko said.

"Whoa, really? You don't have to, you know," Kagami looked perplexed now.

"I insist," Kuroko said and there was that glint of certainty in his eyes. Kagami appeared slightly sheepish as he seemed unable to decline.

"Well, thank you then…" Kagami smiled cheerily now, putting the wristband on and Kuroko seemed to be happy as well as he replied it with a small smile.

Aomine couldn't help seeing the warm atmosphere between the two while a big bead of seat dropping from the back of his head.

_Seriously… what's with that mood? They're practically like lovebirds!_—Aomine sighed deeply when he noticed that Momoi was fuming. Luckily, he still had had his hand on her mouth, or she would have shouted _'what are you doing, getting lovey-dovey with my Tetsu-kun!'_ at that red haired idiot.

Still, it seemed that Kagami hadn't yet realized Kuroko's feeling, looking at how natural and friendly he accepted the gift. No embarrassment, no nothing. It was pure grateful feeling.

Though, for Kuroko to actually ask Kagami out on a date, even though it was disguised as shopping together… _That was… a big step, Tetsu. Your friend is so proud of you!_—Aomine chuckled slightly, getting very amused.

Kuroko seemed to notice his laugh and turned to face Aomine. Aomine just smirked at him knowingly and Kuroko looked another way before he said "It is just a thank you gift."

That sounded so much like an excuse and Aomine was ready to tease Kuroko some more because he was being adorable right then.

"What is it?" Kagami asked, looking clueless like a child.

Man, Kuroko must have had a tough time to attract this guy's attention.

"It's nothing, Kagami-kun," Kuroko said before he glanced at Aomine as well. His eyes were boring into Aomine's navy blue colored ones.

Aomine huffed. Jeez, Kuroko seemed to ask him to shut his mouth up or he would be sorry. "Fine then, but you have to tell him sooner or later," he said in dismissal manner.

"Huh?" Kagami tilted his head aside, looking confused while looking at Aomine and Kuroko in turn.

Apparently, Momoi had enough of the interruption and bit Aomine's hand. "OW!" Then the pink haired girl released herself from Aomine's clutch as he was nursing his abused hand while cursing her rudely for being so violent.

"Why you—!" Momoi, not minding Aomine's foul language and rude comment at her, was about to give Kagami a piece of her mind when Aomine reacted fast enough to pull her back, stopping her.

"Okay, sorry for interrupting. We need to go now," Aomine cut.

"But Dai-chan! That guy is—!" Momoi protested, almost in tears.

"I know, I know… but it's just your imagination," Aomine said, ruffling her hair understandingly. "Bye, Tetsu, Kagami. See you again sometimes," he said, waving without looking back at the Seirin best basketball team's pair.

"Dai-chan! It's not just my imagination! You're smirking! You are totally smirking!" Momoi was still protesting, looking frustrated and flustered, and somehow embarrassed as well because she was being dragged like a child by her childhood friend.

"Yes, yes, you know that's not true…"

* * *

**~Kagami x Kuroko~**

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"What was that all about?" Kagami asked, still looking confused as he and Kuroko saw Aomine and Momoi leave.

…

…

"I do not know," Kuroko answered flatly.

"Wait. There was a pause just now. You knew something, didn't you?" Kagami asked, looking curious now as he looked down at his teammate. "You guys weren't gossiping about me when I wasn't around, right?" he was getting suspicious at this point since he couldn't read Kuroko at all.

"Maybe," was Kuroko's vague answer while he was looking away.

"Aaah! What is it? Tell me!" Kagami asked again, getting worked up somehow.

"Kagami-kun," Kuroko looked upward at Kagami's eyes again and touched the wristband that Kagami had put on his wrist earlier. "This looks good on you," he said, complimenting honestly.

Kagami was slightly distracted by Kuroko's small content smile that he forgot about the 'gossip' problem altogether.

"Oh, yeah, thanks… but you really didn't have to buy it for me, though. I still have the old pair…"

"I already threw those hideous things away," Kuroko said surely.

"What! Why? No wonder I couldn't find them…" Kagami looked at Kuroko in disbelief.

"Those are poorly made. They could not properly protect your wrists," Kuroko explained. "I want you to be on your top game, always. It is the least I can do to make that happen," he looked at Kagami's crimson eyes so earnestly such that Kagami couldn't really get angry at him for actually throwing away his things.

"Well… I guess it's… okay since you're buying me a new pair…" Kagami scratched his head slightly as he looked away. "Then, I'll accept this gratefully. You want to protect me, huh?" he smiled then, for some reasons, feeling ludicrously happy and a tad bit embarrassed that Kuroko paid so much attention to him.

This was what a friend's care like. Kuroko was being such a good friend for Kagami.

Kuroko smiled slightly again. "I am glad if you like it," he said while taking another wristband.

"You're buying for yourself too?" Kagami asked as they went to the cash register together.

"Yeah, it is a nice pair of wristband. I'd like to have them too," Kuroko said, smiling slightly as he paid.

"Heeh? Then we have the same pairs, huh? That's great! Friendship symbol, cool!" Kagami was honestly happy and Kuroko actually chuckled slightly.

It was surprising even for Kagami for actually seeing Kuroko chuckle, but it was a very welcome surprise. Kuroko looked so ridiculously good when he smiled. "Thanks," Kagami said again.

"You are very welcome, Kagami-kun," Kuroko said back as they went home together afterwards.

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**~Kagami x Kuroko~**

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That night in Kuroko's house, a text message came while he was studying.

Kuroko opened the lid of his cell phone and the message to read—

'_Good luck with your crush!'—_Aomine Daiki.

Kuroko stared at the screen for awhile before he texted back.

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**~Kagami x Kuroko~**

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Aomine didn't expect that Kuroko would reply his teasing message as he read—

'_You too.'—_Kuroko Tetsuya.

Aomine spit out his drink because he almost choked at the shocking reply.

"W-wha—!" The water was still dripping from his jaw as he blushed… hard. "What the _fuck_ was that supposed to mean!" he actually screeched at that.

Really, Aomine Daiki still had a long way to go to understand Kuroko's Tetsuya's mind.

**End of A Friend's Care**

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**A/N: **Okay~, so that's the one-shot for one of the plot bunnies. I think it's general enough to be categorized into 'friendship' genre, but the implication of the shounen ai is strong, so I put it into humor/romance *grins* I'm still not confident enough to write from Kuroko's POV (because his personality is a tough one to understand), so it has to stay in Aomine and Kagami's, but I'll try later to make another fic from Kuroko's POV as well XD.

What do you think? Is this a good starter for a Kurobasu fic? It's the first fic I made in Kurobasu fandom after all, so it may be still rather awkward *lol*. Well, now I'll be waiting for your feedback, everyone!

Oh, I also made a doujin for Kurobasu x Nuramago—crossover. It's still ongoing, but I'd like some feedback for the pics as well. If you're interested to read, you can always go to: _**www. charista. deviantart. com/art/Miracle-Night-JFY-Kurobasu-x-Nuramago-Doujin-Cover-303892367?q=gallery%3Acharista&qo=1 **_

Or to: _**www. lunaryu. livejournal. com/84075. html**_ (remove the spaces)

Jaa, see you all again in the next story!


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